Terry Fox museum not destined for Thunder Bay

The family of the late Terry Fox has turned down the City of Thunder Bay's request to borrow artifacts for a proposed exhibit in Thunder Bay.

Earlier this year, council directed staff to ask Fox's family about getting some items for an exhibit in the city.

City archivist Matt Szybalski spoke with Darrell Fox, Terry's brother. 

He said the family hopes to keep all the artifacts from their collection at a permanent display in Vancouver.

"It's not that they don't want it in Thunder Bay," said Szybalski.

"They want it there [in Vancouver]. That's home, and that's where Terry was from, that's where they want it to land permanently."

Travelling exhibit could come to Thunder Bay

But Szybalski said a travelling Terry Fox exhibit, planned to tour from 2015 to 2018, may come to Thunder Bay. The young athlete and amputee was nearing the city on Sept. 1, 1980, when he decided he was in too much pain to continue his Marathon of Hope. 

The Fox Family has partnered with the Canadian Museum of History to create the travelling exhibit.

"Our goal is to try and have Thunder Bay be one of the launch sites for that," said Szybalski.

"Once we have more details, we'll be trying to figure out where exactly it will be located, and how this will work."

According to a memo Szybalski will present to council Monday night, the Fox Family's vision is for a 45,000- to 55,000-square-foot museum and research centre in Vancouver.

The family currently has between 180,000 and 200,000 artifacts stored in a Library and Archives Canada storage facility in Burnaby, B.C.